The smart home graveyard is swelling with the latest addition, June Oven, which has been rendered obsolete by its new corporate owner, Weber. Once a darling of tech enthusiasts with its innovative smart cooking features, the June Oven now stands as a stark reminder that our connection to these devices is tenuous at best.

Looking back, the June Oven was just the latest in a long line of smart home gadgets that have met a similar fate. Products such as the Nest Secure, Neato robot vacuums, and Brava smart oven have all lost their cloud services, leaving users with little recourse but to hope for a workaround or a full replacement.

The silver lining, if you want to see one, is that many of these devices still function on a local level, albeit without the convenience of remote control or updates. But as the tech industry ages, so too do these devices, with few companies willing to invest in their long-term maintenance.

For the future, consumer protections, manufacturers with foresight, and the development of local protocols are needed to prevent more devices from becoming nothing but collectibles. Legislation and industry standards must ensure that when we buy a smart home device, we're not buying a ticking time bomb.